General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

William Rose Mansfield, 1st Baron Sandhurst (21 June 1819 – 23 June 1876) was a British military commander who served as Commander-in-Chief of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from 1865 to 1870. In Bombay now Mumbai, there is local train station named after Baron Sandhurst. Sanhurst Road station in Central Line.

Background and early life

Mansfield was born in

Ruxley Ruxley is a small settlement in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries. It is located southeast by east of Charing Cross,Nicholson Greater London Street Atlas Comprehensive Edition p.186 (2003) shows borough district b ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the fifth of the seven sons of John Mansfield of Diggeswell House in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, and his wife, Mary Buchanan Smith, daughter of General Samuel Smith of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His grandfather was the prominent lawyer Sir James Mansfield, Solicitor General from 1780 to 1782 and in 1783 and

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, which was the second-highest common law court in the English legal system until 1875, when it, along with the other ...

from 1804 to 1814. In 1854, he married Margaret Fellowes, who became a noted suffragist and spiritualist after his death.

Military career

Mansfield was educated at

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, and was commissioned into the 53rd Foot as an ensign in 1835. He was promoted to lieutenant on 31 August 1838 and to captain on 10 February 1843. He was mostly active in

and served in the

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

campaign of 1845 to 1846. Promoted to major on 3 December 1847, he commanded the 53rd Regiment in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

from 1848 to 1849 and was employed in the

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

operations in 1851 and 1852, receiving promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 9 May 1851 and to colonel on 6 October 1854. In 1855, during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, Mansfield was appointed military adviser to the Ambassador at Constantinople Lord Stratford de Redcliff, and accompanied him to the Crimea. He then returned to

and served as Chief-of-Staff during the Indian Mutiny campaign from 1857 to 1859, initially with the local rank of major-general. His role during the

Siege of Lucknow The siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the British Residency within the city of Lucknow from rebel sepoys (Indian soldiers in the British East India Company's Army) during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief att ...

in November 1857 saw his appointment

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in March 1858. Promoted to major-general on 18 May 1858, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the

Bombay Army The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three presidencies of Presidencies and provinces of British India, British India. It was established in 1662 and governed by the East India Company until the Government of India A ...

from 1860 to 1865 and as

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

from 1865 to 1870. During this time, he was made Knight Grand Commander of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointments ...

(GCSI) and subsequently Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). Mansfield was then

Commander-in-Chief, Ireland Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, was title of the commander of the British forces in Ireland before 1922. Until the Act of Union in 1800, the position involved command of the distinct Irish Army of the Kingdom of Ireland. History Marshal of Ireland ...

from 1870 to 1875. He was promoted to full general on 23 May 1872. In 1871 he was admitted to the Irish Privy Council and raised to the peerage as Baron Sandhurst, of Sandhurst in the County of Berkshire. Sandhurst died in London on 23 June 1876, aged 57, and was buried at

Digswell Digswell is an ancient village and former parish in the English county of Hertfordshire which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The population of the urban area of Digswell in the 2011 Census was 1,632. Digswell's name may be derived from ...

church,

. He was succeeded in the Barony by his eldest son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who was created Viscount Sandhurst in 1917. However, this title became extinct on his death while he was succeeded in the Barony by his younger brother.

Arms

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandhurst, William Rose Mansfield, 1st Baron 1819 births 1876 deaths British Commanders-in-Chief of India Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Members of the Privy Council of Ireland British Army generals Military personnel from Kent King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers British Army personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Members of the Bombay Legislative Council Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria Members of the Council of the Governor General of India